what is in a name? July 31, 2008

     PROVERBS 22:1 A GOOD NAME IS MORE DESIRABLE THAN GREAT RICHES…..

 

   i have always thought that a name is very important. it defines who you are and your personality. when michael and i were naming our children it was a very big decision. it couldn’t be common and it couldn’t be just any old name. i am sure everyone out there has a reason why they have their name and a reason why they named their kids what they did.

   my name was suppose to be jessica or jennifer but when my dad went to sign my birth certificate he came back with “jamilia”. my mom was so mad and i spent my childhood trying to hide it. it was not normal and all children want to be normal, but now that i am older and like not being normal, i like my name more. i think i will try to use it more. as you know i grew up in the bahai’ faith and my dad said jamilia is a bahai’ holiday and in the name book jamilia is Greek for beautiful princess.

 

what does your name mean and why did your parents give it to you? or if your child has a special name and you would like to share that is cool too?

What A Word! July 29, 2008

                                                     SUBMISSION

    there it is. the word that makes every woman come to a screeching halt in front of God and her husband.I started thinking about this a lot after i visited worm’s blog and watched the 30 minute video he has up.in one part the man is talking about the woman’s place in the church and it got me thinking about a woman’s place in the church and in the family.in ephesians 5:21-33 paul urges women to submit to their husbands. some women might think that since it is the 21st century that this passage doesn’t apply but you can’t ignore the passage. in verse 21 paul says that all should submit to one another for Christ sake- husbands, wives, children, singles. we should willingly love and submit ourselves to our brothers and sisters in Christ because Christ first loved/loves us.

     in the same way, in a marriage relationship, the beginning is not submission it is love. a husband’s loving interaction with his wife will produce a willing submission to him. a wife’s loving interaction with her husband will produce tender leadership on his part.

      submission doesn’t mean women become doormats or wimpy wives. it requires an inner strength to obey God and submit to your husband. it requires finding fulfillment in the role of being a godly wife.

      IF WE ALL WILLINGLY AND LOVINGLY PUT OTHERS BEFORE SELF, SUBMISSION BECOMES A NON-ISSUE. WHAT A TRANSFORMATION SUCH SELFLESSNESS WOULD MAKE IN A MARRIAGE, IN A HOME, IN THE CHURCH!

you are loved July 25, 2008

psalms 147:11 the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his UNFAILING LOVE.

      God is holy and righteous. he is also Loving and compassionate. God reveals himself to us as a father and a husband. he provides for us and protects us like a loving father and as a husband he wants to meet our need for intimacy. the most intimate human experience is the relationship between a husband and a wife . God’s desire to have that relationship with us is revealed to us all over the Bible. from Hosea to Ephesians, Psalms to Revelation.  Isaiah  54:5 says “for your Maker is your husband- the Lord Almighty is his name”. in human relationships true  genuine love is hard to find but in the eyes of our creator we are completely known and unconditionally loved.

it is only fitting July 23, 2008

      it is only fitting that i write this post after the post i just did a couple of days ago on not complaining and grumbling, but i am sad and i need to vent.

     I CORINTHIANS 12:12-31 THE BODY IS A UNIT,THOUGH IT IS MADE UP OF MANYPARTS; AND THOUGH ALL IT’S PARTS ARE MANY THEY FORM ONE BODY. SO IT IS WITH CHRIST. FOR WE WERE ALL BAPTIZED BY ONE SPIRIT INTO ONE BODY-WHETHER JEWS OR GREEKS, SLAVE OR FREE- WE WERE ALL GIVEN THE ONE SPIRIT TO DRINK………

     

    ONE BODY, MANY PARTS- I HOPE YOU WILL GO TO YOUR BIBLE AND READ THIS IN FULL.

     part of the work of the Holy Spirit is to give spiritual gifts to each believer for the building up of the body so that they might reflect Christ to a broken world. paul talks about a “greater gift”(1 cor 12:31)-those that encourage, lift up and edify fellow believers through humility and unselfishness.

      i am not getting ready to do that, but i hope by saying something maybe i can get someone else to be an encouragement and lift up some of our children in the church who need it. this is how i feel about what i see at the moment.

       my husband has been teaching RAs every wednesday night for 7 years and i have been teaching GAs or mission friends for 8 years and this is the first year we have descided to take a brake and refuel. GAs is fine and i think they are still looking for a few in mission friends, but the thing that has upset me is that out of probably 150(at least) active men in our church not even 2 men will step up and say ” i want to teach our boys.” there is talk about having to maybe have “children in action” instead of GAS and RAS, which would mean that our girls would not have that great girl time and our boys would not have their great boy time. this makes my stomach hurt to read those words back to myself.

      please be in prayer about this and please be in prayer for me. maybe someone could comment to me on how i can feel better about this or how as a believer i am really suppose to feel.

shine like stars in the universe July 21, 2008

Philippians 2:14-15 Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you SHINE LIKE STARS IN THE UNIVERSE…..

     GRUMBLING AND COMPLAINING. IT IS A NATIONAL PAST TIME. IT IS A RECREATIONAL ACTIVITY IN THE FOYERS OF MANY CHURCHES. EVEN THOUGH I KNOW IT IS SIN AND IT BREAKS GOD’S HEART. I TOLERATE IT IN MY LIFE AND I KNOW OTHERS DO THE SAME. THE ISRAELITES HAD MASTERED THE ART OF GRUMBLING (WHILE THEY WERE IN THE WILDERNESS) AND GOD DISCIPLINED THEM FOR IT. IN 1 COR 10 PAUL REMINDS US OF THE HIGH COST HIS ANCESTORS PAID FOR THEIR GRUMBLING. HE LISTS FOUR SINS THEY COMMITTED AS THEY WANDERED: IDOLATRY,SEXUAL IMMORALITY, TESTING GOD, AND GRUMBLING. WE PROBABLY WOULDN’T PUT GRUMBLING ON OUR LIST OF  WORST SINS.BUT I THINK GOD TAKES IT VERY SERIOUSLY BECAUSE IT IS AN OUTWARD DISPLAY OF AN INWARD PROBLEM.

    I STARTED THINKING ABOUT THIS AFTER I HEARD THE SERMON I HEARD YESTERDAY. SHANE WAS TALKING ABOUT PSALMS 32 BUT ONE THING HE SAID (IT WAS SMALL,BUT IT GOT ME THINKING) OLDER PEOPLE HAVE SEEN A LOT MORE OF LIFE THEN SOMEONE WHO IS YOUNGER. TRUE. YOU HARDLY EVER SEE AN OLDER PERSON COMPLAIN BUT YOU SEE YOUNGER PEOPLE COMPLAIN A LOT. AS PEOPLE GET OLDER THE COMPLAINING SEEMS TO FADE. I THINK IT IS BECAUSE THEY HAVE LEARNED IT IS ALL GOING TO WORK OUT THE WAY IT IS SUPPOSED TO.

SO STOP COMPLAINING AND ENJOY YOUR LIFE!

Elizabeth (means:GOD is my oath) July 19, 2008

  Elizabeth was worried and confused when Zechariah,her husband, came rushing in the house excited and gesturing and couldn’t speak. something had happened and it was going to take awhile to figure out what. Elizabeth felt empty because she had never conceived a child and her and Zechariah were kind of old to have children. an angel named Gabriel had told Zechariah they were going to have a son and they would name him John and he would fulfill old testament prophecy by going before the Lord and preparing a people for the Lord. Most people would have been scared of this news but Elizabeth took it in stride. she had grown up knowing the scripture and it talked about Sarah and Abraham. she just thought if it could happen to Sarah then it could happen to her.

     Elizabeth was six months pregnant and old when Mary came to visit. mary who had also been visited, by an angel, had conceived by The Holy Spirit. when Mary stepped in Elizabeth’s door “her baby leaped inside her with joy” and she exclaimed”Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! why am i so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”(luke 1: 42-44). elizabeth could have cared only about herself and her miracle and her good news. elizabeth and zechariah had read isaiah and they knew their child would be the forerunner to the Messiah, but when her baby leaped inside her and she saw Mary and saw she was with child. she only cared about mary’s gift not herself.

scripture doesn’t just use rules and regulations to tell us how to live. our Lord gives us flesh and blood accounts of his love in action-people like elizabeth, people like us, who have learned by trail and error and who are blessed for their faithfulness.

KEEP THE FAITH.

johnny the baptist (su su sent this funny) July 17, 2008

           JOHNNY THE BAPTIST…

Johnny’s Mother looked out the window and noticed
him “playing church” with their cat. He had the cat
sitting quietly and he was preaching to it. She smiled
and went about her work.A while later, she heard loud meowing and hissing and
ran back to the open window to see Johnny baptizing the
cat in a tub of water.

She called out, “Johnny, stop that! The cat is afraid of water!”

Johnny looked up at her and said,
“He should have thought about that before he joined my church.”

 

 

unwilling to sell all? July 16, 2008

     well it has been 3 days,2 hours, and 2 minutes since i had a cigarette. during this time i have been trying to get in the word and find scripture that reminds me to deny self and i came upon the story of the rich young man and it reminded me of somethings that i thought i would share.

     Jesus started on his way and a man ran up to him and fell on his knees and asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus reminded him of the commandments and the man said he had kept these all his life. Jesus looked at him with love and told him there was one thing he lacked. Jesus said “go and sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. then come and follow me.”the man went away sad because he had great wealth. Jesus said “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”the disciples then asked “who then can be saved?’and Jesus said “with men this is impossible, but not with God;all things are possible with God.”……….

     Jesus, with perfect vision looks into the young man’s heart and sees what his true love is-money. Even though the man seems faithful in keeping God’s commandment, Jesus knows the man has not given his whole heart to God. When Jesus asked him to sell everything the man was sad. it was too much to ask. God may come in a close second but money still holds the lead. in this story Jesus is not asking believers to sell all their possessions. i think he is seriously asking us to consider what has a hold on our heart. wealth can be anything we take pleasure in, like money or food or cigarettes. take a minute to consider what holds your heart.

IS THERE SOMETHING YOU”RE UNWILLING TO “SELL” FOR JESUS?

there is a reason July 14, 2008

great song. great band. my favorite at the moment. when are we going to see them again?

I QUIT! July 14, 2008

    we are back from vacation, and i quit again. i have tried to quit smoking  7 times,at least. i would really appreciate the prayers. 

    about 4 or 5 months ago i woke in the middle of the night and cried because God told me i was an addict. i want to see my children grow up and i don’t want my children to see their mother die a painful death and i don’t want to die and have my children think i loved cigarettes more then them. i only smoke a half a pack a day so you would think it would be easy. most people smoke a pack or more a day,but i really like it. it is like a friend that is there for me when i get mad or my kids get on my nerves, i can go outside for 5 minutes and come back in a new person. i have to change my whole lifestyle, because when you quit smoking your metabolism slows down and i don’t want to gain weight. so, please pray for me because right now i am really weak. i am afraid of failure and i don’t really want to quit(which makes it harder to quit). i will take comfort in that i know you are praying for me and if i succeed i will be more complete and if i fail i will try again.